Homeowner Wonders Why Birds Refuse to Use Their Bird Bath — Then, They Saw What Was Inside

It was a typical morning in Australia. In a lush green garden was a pedestal-style bird bath. The bath was still and quiet, which was unusual because, by this time, normally, it should have been swarmed by playful flocks of bird guests that splashed, sprayed, and grooved in the pool. But today, as those hummingbirds arrived to dip their feathery bodies in a cool bath, they noticed something. They rolled their eyes in horror, let out piercing shrieks, and instantly fluttered away.

As it jutted upwards from the garden ground, the bathtub seemed to be enveloped by a misty, eerie aura that spooked out even the owner. There were probably some sinister hissing noises too that they failed to hear due to the rustling of leaves. Something’s wrong, their instincts told them. Far from their imagination, the bathtub was now invaded by an otherworldly creature whose patterns of brown, tan, and gold shimmered in the blinding Sun.

It wasn’t until they pulled out a camera and snapped a photo of the bird bath in aerial view. The picture instantly revealed why no bird was arriving to take a bath. Rolled and coiled in a spirally puddle inside the bathtub was what appeared to be a physical manifestation of the Ouroboros, the tail-eating snake of resurrection that shows up in myths and symbolism in spiral coils, per IC7ZI. So mysterious, so occult, the sight of the cold-blooded reptile was obviously enough to scare the wits out of the bird visitors. No one wanted to come close, but apparently, all this serpent needed was a cool bath. “Snakes need baths too,” one person commented on the December 2019 post shared by the owner, u/whitecollarzomb13.

“35 degrees before 9 am and I was wandering why the birds weren’t interested in the bird bath,” the gardener wrote in the post caption. People guessed that the coiled serpent was “Darwin Carpet python,” a non-venomous serpent commonly found in Queensland, Australia. “It's a genius idea by the snake, stay cool and have food delivered,” quipped u/str1D3R109. u/Poly-Beat shared a similar experience: “I have a big blue tongue lizard that scares the bajeebaz out of me every time I go out into the backyard not expecting to see it.”

People told the birder to splash some cool water into the bird bath. It would soothe the snake in the searing heat, and then it would leave. “Beautiful cuddle cord. Put some fresh water in the bird bath. It'll cool it down, and the carpet snake will leave,” said u/wotmate. Many users reflected that these Australian pythons usually do this when it’s their time to shed their skin. u/Wauhy said, “Keep an eye out for a skin, they often do this when it's time to shed.” u/Quiet0n3 added, “Very pretty! Looks a little thin and very dull. Could be prepping for a shed or just cooling off a little, but 35° doesn't bother a snake.”

Another user suggested, “What a beautiful Carpet Python! I have one as a pet. Just leave him be, and he'll make his way out when he's ready. Very docile, non-venomous snakes (Although I don't recommend you try and handle them), they love to eat rats and rodents. How lucky you have one in your backyard.”